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Tuesday, September 12, 2017

East Angus, Quebec - A Compact Paper Mill Layout

Before presenting this other small layout idea, let's talk about a long time favorite of modellers: paper mills. They are definitely a staple on North American layouts and no wonder why. They look cool, generate a large
amount of traffic and handle a vast array of commodities by rail (paper,
pulpwood, chemicals, kaolin, etc.). However, to often I hear complaints from people
who absolutely want one on their layout at any cost, ending up with ridiculous
compromises that have much more to do with a caricature than a real mill. On
the other hand, we’ve all seen these extremely large and bulky representations
of such plant at full scale. They make impressive scene but are a pain to
operate due to poor access. With that in mind, you end up thinking paper mills
can’t be modelled in small spaces in such a fashion they can keep their
interest.

A few years
ago, Mike Confalone tackled the problem by only modelling the portion of the
mill operated by the railway company when he did his St. Regis Paper scene.
This way, he could get away with most structures and tracks, only representing the
basic operations at the plant. On the other hand, you have people like Hunter
Hughson who clearly decided to dedicate a shelf layout to the mill by including
everything single activities on the plant. In that regard, I think he succeeded
and I’m pretty sure it works as well as our Donohue mill, if not better. As it
stands, our paper mill could work perfectly as an autonomous switching layout without
requiring anything else in a 10’ x 8’ space, which is perfect for most spare
rooms. From an operation standpoint, using an industrial switcher locomotive
would be both realistic and would eliminate the need for a staging area since
we could imply the local train left the cut of cars on a storage siding which
is generally the case.

However, I
wanted to see if I could model a realistic paper mill with less track and
turnout. Something very simple yet grounded in prototype practice and that
could offer a decent amount of operation while having plenty of modelling and
scenery opportunities. And it seems I indeed found a suitable prototype in
Southern Quebec that could give some people ideas. I certainly want to stress
out this layout take as much place as Donohue and thus could look quite diminutive;
however, it must be seen as an alternative for people wanting low trackage and
to get away with runaround and switching puzzles. It is less about a race
against the clock than working at a leisure pace. Thus, for similar space,
freight cars, theme and era, one can develop very different projects with
particular features.

East Angus: An Opportunity

Another
interesting prototype in this series of quick layout designs is based on a paper
mill in East Angus, QC. It closed recently and was considered one of the oldest
still in operation in North America, dating back to 1882. A fun fact was
that the original mill structure – a classic stone and brick building – still stands to
this day and was still used to produce newsprint, kraft paper and other finer
paper not so long ago. A second mill, on St. Francis River eastern bank was erected in 1892. By 1907, the old mill was renovated and pioneered the kraft process in North America, making it a more than worthy prototype to draw inspiration from. More information about this historic mill can be found in an interesting article from Sherbrooke Record published on March 14th, 2016.

The mill
was served by Quebec Central Railway until the demise of this company not so
long ago. East Angus mill was closed down once for all back in 2014-2015. Back
then, rail operation was quite simple and only involved shipping finished
products from a warehouse, some inbound chemicals and woodchip. Track density
was low and rail-served structures would be easy to model without taking too
much space.

An
interesting aspect of this mill was that it was in fact, as we saw earlier, made of two distinct
complexes built on each side of the river. While studying mandatory fire
insurance and topographic maps, I found out the western mill was in fact the
kraft and newsprint plant. To access this plant, a siding crossed St. Francis River over
a steel bridge where a long siding served the mill both for incoming loads and
for shipping finished products. A second siding, acting as a drilling track and
probably to hold coal hoppers for the power plant in the old days stood there
too.

Of interest too, the western part of the mill had only one siding serving
the structure. No need for the usual vast array of tracks serving larger mills. This was due to a combination of factors including lack of space but also the fact a part of the process was handled by the eastern
plant. Thus, it enables us to realistically model only a part of the process
without compromising anything. Anyway, back in the 1970s and 1980s, it would have been normal that some commodities were trucked in, which for once, we can use to our advantage.

In terms of
track plan and operation, this layout would be quite similar to Lance Mindheim’s
one turnout layout project in MRH, except a second turnout would be required to
stage the train behind the plant as if it was coming from the eastern plant. This staging would be optional, but I'm well aware that many people, even on switching layouts, like the idea their trains emerge from somewhere. With
a switching lead of 66 inches, quite long trains (one 4-axle locomotive and 8
cars, which seems to have been quite standard in the 1980s) could be built up with enough space to perform realistic moves. Add to
that the extremely attractive feature of seeing the locomotive run over the
bridge several times during a single session.

East Angus, QC, 2015 (Google Earth)

As for the
plant itself and commodities carried, maps indicate the mill handled the
manufacture of kraft paper and newsprint. At the end of the track, most inbound
commodities were unloaded in warehouses identified as “sulphite storage”. This is
where boxcars and chemical tank cars would be spotted. At the other end of the
mill, near the bridge, was the finished product warehouse. It wasn’t a fancy
modern covered loading area but rather a more traditional set of doors along
the siding, making it a perfect feature for car spotting. When the mill was later modernized, a steel warehouse was erected there.

While being
light on trackage, this layout would have an impressive ratio of scenery and
industry. Switching moves wouldn’t be overcomplicated, but applying common
railway practices would make it a neat challenge particularly since only one
siding serves the mill. Personally, I would operate such a layout in the early 1980s,
just before tracks were removed at the western mill to enlarge it. According to to a photograph shot in 1987 by Timothy Wakeman, Quebec Central ran extra trains to serve the plan. On the picture, we can see 6 boxcars and a tank car making up this train coming back from switching the plant and ready to leave for Sherbrooke.

Rolling stock would include a lot of colorful 50ft boxcars, some chemical tank cars and a handful of older boxcars. As any CPR line in Quebec, Alco road switchers such as RS18 and RS10 would be mandatory to perform the task and a caboose (Angus van) would make it a very pleasant sight.

2 comments:

Really like the article on the East Angus mill BUT I can't read your notes and descriptions on the track plan---my PC does not get that level of definition. As I have been looking for a simpler paper mill track plan and my use this, might you send an enlarged version? I think I see what you're doing but...Many thanks for the great work.

Roger, I'm glad to hear it could be of some use. I've drawn an updated track plan closer to the prototype, with less compromises and more options in term of commodities. I will post it as soon as I can, probably next week. I'll make it as clear as possible.

About The Club

Our layout is about capturing small-time branchline railroading in Eastern Canada during the early 80s. Built by three modellers, this HO layout is mainly dedicated to the Old Capital former CN Murray Bay Subdivision linking together Quebec City, Montmorency & Charlevoix counties. We also share an interest in its former constituant railways including Canadian National Railway (CNR) and Quebec Railway Light & Power Co. (QRL&PCo).

The original founding crew, still in active service since February 2007, is made of Louis-Marie Huot (Provincial Government Official), Matthieu Lachance (Architect, O.A.Q.) and Jérôme Langlois-Lavoie (real-life Locomotive Engineer). Many fellow "brakemen" assist the group on an irregular basis.

A special thanks goes to the late Mr. Jean-Pierre Veilleux (†2016) who was a precious source of historic facts and a dedicated railfan since the early 50s onward.